'''Duncan Forestar''' or '''Forrester''' of Torwood and Skipinch was a Scottish courtier and financial administrator. He also served as Provost of Stirling.<ref>John Gibson, ''Lands and lairds of Larbert and Dunipace parishes'' (Glasgow, 1908), pp. 134–137.</ref>
His family home was [[Torwood Castle]] near Stirling. "Skipinch" was an alternative name for [[Skipness Castle]]. [[James IV of Scotland]] gave him a barony of the lands of Skipness and the keepership of the castle on 3 July 1495.<ref>''HMC 4th Report'' (London, 1874), p. 477.</ref> [[File:Skipness Castle.jpg|thumb|right|Duncan Forestar was made baron of Skipinch in 1495 and keeper of [[Skipness Castle]]]]
Duncan Forestar was also called "of Garden", from another property near Stirling. His son was Walter Forestar.<ref>Francis J. Grant, ''Charter Chest of the Earldom of Wigtown'' (Edinburgh, 1910), pp. 78–81.</ref> [[Alexander Forrester of Garden]] was a member of a later generation of the same family.<ref>P. Gouldesbrough, 'Accounts of the Comptroller Duncan Forestar', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX'' (Edinburgh, 1958), pp. 60-61.</ref>
Duncan Forestar was keeper of [[Stirling Castle]] in 1480.<ref>John Gibson, ''Lands and lairds of Larbert and Dunipace parishes'' (Glasgow, 1908), p. 135.</ref> He was [[Comptroller of Scotland]] from 1492 to 1499 and from 1508 to 1509, serving [[James IV of Scotland]].<ref>M. Livingstone, ''Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 1488-1529'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 76 no. 532.</ref> The Comptroller was in charge of collecting and spending royal revenue.<ref>P. Gouldesbrough, 'Accounts of the Comptroller Duncan Forestar', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX'' (Edinburgh, 1958), p. 61.</ref> In 1508 he was "Great Purveyor to the Queen" or "Magnus Provisor", in charge of purchasing [[food and the Scottish royal household|food and other items for the household]] of [[Margaret Tudor]], the wife of James IV. [[James Redheuch]] was the equivalent administrator for the king's household.<ref>''Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 1507–1513'', vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), pp. 27, 447.</ref> For a time there were separate household accounts for Margaret Tudor, but these records do not now survive.<ref>P. Gouldesbrough, 'Accounts of the Comptroller Duncan Forestar', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX'' (Edinburgh, 1958), p. 61: ''Exchequer Rolls'', vol. 13, pp. lxxvi, lxxix: [[National Records of Scotland]] has a royal household account book for 1511-1512.</ref>
His accounts written in Latin mention royal servants, including the king's tailor [[John Steel (tailor)|John Steel]], his barber James Jacklin, and the master cook Thomas Schaw.<ref>P. Gouldesbrough, 'Accounts of the Comptroller Duncan Forestar', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX'' (Edinburgh, 1958), p. 66.</ref> Some expenses were met for the Spanish ambassador [[Pedro de Ayala]], and details are given of [[Perkin Warbeck]] (called the Duke of York) and the raids in England to [[Norham Castle]] and [[Heaton Castle]].<ref>P. Gouldesbrough, 'Accounts of the Comptroller Duncan Forestar', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX'' (Edinburgh, 1958), pp. 72, 74, 79, 81.</ref>
Forestar maintained a family burial aisle on the west side of the [[Church of the Holy Rude]] in Stirling. He outlived two wives, Margaret Forsyth and Margaret Bothwell. His son Walter Forestar was a servant of Margaret Tudor, acting as her provisor in 1508, when Duncan Forestar was the knight comptroller of her household.<ref>Michelle L. Beer, ''Queenship at the Renaissance Courts of Britain: Catherine of Aragon and Margaret Tudor'' (Boydell, 2018), p. 104: John Gibson, ''Lands and lairds of Larbert and Dunipace parishes'' (Glasgow, 1908), pp. 136–138.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forestar, Duncan}} [[Category:Comptrollers of Scotland]] [[Category:Household of Margaret Tudor]] [[Category:Court of James IV of Scotland]] [[Category:People of Stirling Castle]] [[Category:Monarchy and money]]